Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

T he first thing I notice when I finally drag myself out of sleep is that I'm sore. Not in I need emergency surgery sore, but having been thoroughly fucked. The second thing is that my ass is very, very empty.

And wet.

Groaning, I slowly stretch, cataloging each part of me that is stiff. Minus that body part. My dick can just wait for a bit before it gets any more attention.

Asenath pads softly into the room, a washcloth in his hands.

"What's that for?" I ask with a yawn, damn near jumping out of my skin when he gently begins wiping me down, paying particular attention to my ass.

"Can you feel him?"

I stop moving, the previous night rushing back to me in excruciating detail. I'm an absolutely horrible friend to be luxating in the morning after the best sex of my life instead of trying to find Ben.

But on the tail of that crushing guilt is the realization that magic hums beneath my skin. I have always been able to feel my power, a gentle wave of energy that I can manipulate for my spellwork. But what I feel now is like the sun, a burning tidal wave of power that will easily pull me under and drown me.

But it's tamed, Asenath's magic tethering the immense power so that it doesn't overwhelm me. And another, fainter tether is pulling me toward downtown.

"I feel Ben," I gasp out, bolting off the bed.

Asenath doesn't stop me as I throw clothes on, not caring if they are clean or not. But when I rush to leave the safe house that Dean Hayes insisted we stay in. I stop and look over my shoulder at the still very naked demon.

"Getting arrested for indecent exposure will not help us," I grit out, staring pointedly.

Asenath grins and then I feel a tug of power. The air goes hazy around the demon, and when it clears, he's in a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a black T-shirt, which makes his gray skin more apparent and enhances his silver hair. His tail flicks sedately behind him, and I take a moment to contemplate how he even gets pants on with it in the way.

Hot damn, he cleans up nice.

"Going to assume you're at full power, since you're just now materializing clothes for yourself?" I stuff my feet into my shoes and grab my phone to call a rideshare. I can't help but glance at Ben's phone, sitting forlornly on the entryway table where I put it the day before after talking with Dean Hayes and Cecil.

We make our way out of the building just as our ride pulls up and we quickly get in, telling the driver there's a change in destination. He makes a disgruntled noise at the change, but when I promise him an additional tip he stops complaining.

We direct the driver, following the pull of our third, until we arrive at an old church that's clearly been abandoned. Graffiti covers the brick walls and half the structure is overrun with some sort of vining plant, the foliage thick enough that I can't even see the bricks. Most of the windows not covered by plywood are broken, the glass sparkling in the midday sun.

"Shit, man. You sure this is the right place?" the driver asks, looking between us and the building warily.

The power tugs at me, flaring brightly and I nod. "Yeah, this is it."

"Yeah, well, I ain't waitin' around."

I barely have time to give him his additional tip before he's speeding away.

Asenath watches the retreating car, an expression of amusement on his face before we both turn to regard the imposing building.

"Through the back," Asenath says, leading us across the overgrown yard. Asenath is silent as we weave our way through the junk and weeds, while my clumsy ass trips over something with every other step. I didn't think of myself as stealthy, but at this point, I'm pretty sure a herd of elephants is less noisy than me.

My phone chimes as we finally get around to the back of the church, which is even more chaotic with junk. Seriously, how did half a jacuzzi and a shredded sectional get back here?

I dig the phone from my pocket, not at all surprised to see a text from Charlie demanding I call him. I ignore the text, powering off my phone and tucking it back in my pocket. I can let him know what's going on after I get Ben back.

Asenath is watching me, one hand on the back door. There's a gaping hole where the handle used to be. I want to ask if he broke the handle but almost immediately, I know that he didn't. That it was already broken and that he can feel a secondary source of magic inside, someone who isn't Ben.

I startle at that realization. That his knowledge can be so easily accessible to me through our bond. All the things that I can learn makes me giddy with excitement, but I tamp it down.

We have to survive first, after all.

I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. Terror is there, beating against my chest with every thump of my heart — but also anger. Anger that Jacob — Dimitr, whatever — thinks he can take what's mine. That he can steal Ben like he's some sort of possession.

Asenath grins at me, tail whipping back and forth as he opens the door. We make our way through the back of the building, skirting trash, collapsing walls, and what I assume to be excrement based on the smell.

I can feel Ben, feel that tether of power as it pulses, and I know he's in pain. Whatever Dimitri is doing is causing him pain. A growl rumbles behind me, Asenath also picking up on Ben's distress. My own lips twist up in a snarl as we rush farther inside.

I can feel Dimitri's power now, an insidious blackness that coats the back of my throat like some foul sludge. I choke on it, bile rising in my throat, and I almost turn around. It's only the quiet whimpering from deeper inside that keeps me going.

Asenath snarls something in his own language, practically ripping the hinges off the last door. I rush forward, stupid I know, and that tar-like power lashes out. I can feel it roaring toward us and I throw my magic out, the glyphs for protection and shielding flaring bright red in my vision as Dimitri's power slams into it.

Holy fuck. I have never been able to do that.

Asenath rushes past me, and it's only as I'm blinking after him that I see the mammoth thing in the center of the nave. It shrieks as Asenath slams into it with the four-inch claws suddenly sprouting from the tips of his fingers.

I rush into the main part of the church, following that whimpering sound around to a raised area at the back where the preacher does his sermon.

And stumble to a stop in horror.

There's someone on that platform. A nude woman, whose body has been pulled apart like some fucked up science dissection. Her brown eyes are staring at me, and when she blinks slowly, I damn near piss myself.

She's alive? Her lungs inflate, the air rasping out of her open mouth sounding like the rustle of dead leaves, and that high whimper follows. I ignore the sounds of fighting behind me, my sole focus on the woman. A tear escapes her wide eyes, trailing down her cheek. I can't even begin to fathom the agony she has to be in. There's no way she can't be. The entire front of her body is missing, her ribcage removed and cast away like trash to expose her lungs and heart. The skin of her stomach split and held back with nails, her organs taken out of her body and placed around her like some sort of display.

How she's still alive is . . . It's horrifying.

A grunt and scuffle has me jerking my head to the side and my knees almost give out. Staring back at me with eyes wide in terror is Ben, duct tape over his mouth and his wrists bound and secured above his head with rope. The front of his shirt is shredded, blood still drying against his chest and stomach, and bile rises in my throat again. His pants aren't much better, nothing but tattered denim fluttering around his waist and one leg.

His nakedness is concerning, but he's alive and I don't see any wounds. The blood isn't his.

He had to watch as Dimitri cut into that woman. And to then be bathed in her blood? What the fuck is Dimitri trying to accomplish?

Clambering onto the raised platform, I skirt the woman and fall to my knees next to Ben, my hand cupping his face. His eyes search mine in a panic, then dart back to the fight still raging behind me, but I summon warding glyphs, wrapping us in a shield of thickening air.

I don't know where Dimitri is, but I trust Asenath to fight off whatever creature was left to guard these two.

And we have Ben back.

I'm reaching for the duct tape when that oily power surges, and the white-hot tether connecting me to Ben flares hotter. Ben's eyes roll as his body convulses. I jerk away from him, scanning the large room.

Dimitri is still here. Somewhere. Probably fist fucking his own dick as he tortures Ben.

"We must leave. Now," Asenath orders, appearing beside me. His shirt is torn, healing lacerations covering his torso and blackish-green ichor splattered over him.

I look around, terror fueling me as I unhook the ropes keeping Ben's bound wrists above him. He groans at the movement, those brown eyes of his opening to stare up at me in bleary confusion.

With a flick of his wrist, Asenath cuts through the ropes with one of his handy retractable claws, and I wince as Ben's arms flop down to his lap, the wrists bloody from fighting.

"You really don't learn, do you?" Dimitri asks reproachfully, appearing on the other side of the woman's body. She lets out a shrill noise of terror and he crouches next to her with a smile, petting her thigh like she's nothing more than some favored dog.

That oily power washes over me, and I can't help but gag. Whatever magic he's dabbling in is repulsive and I want nothing more than to take a bath in bleach to get the feeling of it off me.

Asenath lets out a growl, his tail thrashing as he regards the mage cautiously. No, not cautiously — fearfully. He's afraid. A Demon Lord is afraid of the power Dimitri possesses. That can't be good.

"First off, I'm stubborn," I bite out, standing up and shielding Ben. Well, doing my best to shield him since I have zero muscle mass and don't look threatening in the slightest. "Secondly, do you really have to haul around a whole fucking dumpster with you? You smell like shit and don't look much better."

Dimitri's eyes narrow and he slowly stands, black tendrils of magic twisting around his form. The shadows drift across the woman and I flinch when the smell of burning flesh hits my nose. But then they draw back, dissipating as Dimitri smiles that too wide smile again.

"Pesky little human and his pesky little Azajhan . While I only need the woman as a sacrifice, I suppose two will probably be better." He turns that smile to me and I shudder at the look in his eyes. "And the little human can be a plaything. See how wide I can stretch him before he rips apart."

"Oh sweetie, I think I'm going to sit that one out. But if you send a request to not gonna happen dot com I'm sure I'll inform you when I change my mind, which will be never," I reply with my own little smile.

Yes, I'm probably writing a check that my ass can't cash, but there's a method to my madness. Okay, no there's not, but I get sassy when I get scared. Sue me.

"Why do you need a sacrifice?" Asenath asks, and I nod my head way too fast at that question.

"Yeah, I mean, seems a bit excessive if you just want to summon a State Farm agent," I babble.

Dimitri tilts his head, neon green eyes flickering in a really creepy way. He focuses on me, and I really don't like the look that he's giving me — something between rage and revulsion. "Your kind are a blight. No matter which universe we go to, your species is there, taking what is rightfully ours. I am ending it, bringing us back from the Between and erasing your kind from existence."

I cross my arms, giving him a bored look. "Your ass must be jealous right now,"

Dimitri's head snaps back. "What?"

"Your ass," I reiterated. "It must be jealous of all the shit that's spewing from your mouth. Just admit it. You're envious, and this is just you having a temper tantrum." I stop talking, my attention snapping to his eyes. His neon green eyes. "Oh my God! You're literally the green-eyed monster."

"Issac, please stop talking," Asenath says quietly.

Wonder if I can quickly request what to have in my obituary after this. Judging from the furious look on Dimitri's face, he's about to do exactly what he threatened.

I stumble back, my bravado going the way of the dodo, as shadows erupt from his body, twisting into a seething mass above him.

The woman screams, the guttural shriek echoing off the walls of the church, and the shadows become thicker, solid. Shadows aren't supposed to have physical form.

"The woman. Her pain is powering his spell," Asenath hisses.

Oh, that's just fucked up.

Reaching back, I wrap my arm around Ben, making sure he's on his feet. If we have to run, I can't be wasting seconds pulling him up.

Ben plasters himself to my back, burying his face between my shoulder blades. His fingers dig into my side, and he's shaking so hard it feels like I have a body-sized tuning fork behind me.

"Ben is mine," Dimitri screams. "You do not touch what is mine."

Magic shoots toward us, that oily blackness snapping forward, and I throw up my arms, protection glyphs flaring brightly, but Dimitri is too strong. The warding buckles, pressure building inside my skull as the black tentacles hammer against my magic.

Asenath streaks forward, claws fully extending as he goes for a full-frontal attack. The tether between us thrums with power, and I can practically feel the lust pouring off Asenath. At first, I think he's slashing at Dimitri, but then I realize he's trying to get close enough to the man to get skin-to-skin contact.

Because clearly lusty Dimitri is better than homicidal Dimitri? I'm not going to disagree on that.

I push Ben to the side, away from the fight going on around the woman's body, and then freeze, my gaze falling on the slowly breathing form on the ground. Any time Asenath gets close to the woman, Dimitri's tentacles drive him away.

A lone tentacle tries to penetrate my shielding, agony lancing through my temple at the onslaught. No one warned me that shields will channel all attacks into literal physical pain.

My attention darts between Asenath and the woman, and I make up my mind. I lean Ben against the wall, even though ignoring the panic in his eyes is like getting a punch straight to the stomach.

Keeping an eye on the fight, which has made its way off the platform and into the center aisle of the nave, I dash over to the woman. Bile fills my mouth as I stare down at her, the metallic scent of blood very noticeable now that I'm leaning over her.

Her one eye that I can see is staring up at me, pleading. I can't let her down. She doesn't deserve this horror and there's definitely no way to save her. Adrenaline rushes through me, making my heart feel like it's tripping over itself as I figure out a way to end this. And there's only one way that I can see.

I have to end the woman's suffering. She's the catalyst for Dimitri's power, giving him what he needs to complete his spell. And I can't let that happen. But how? There's nothing close enough to use as a weapon and I can't see myself ripping her heart in two.

One of the pews near the front of the nave explodes, and I flinch away as splintered wood rains down on me. Well, guess when I ask, the universe is going to supply. An arm's length away is a piece of the pew, one side ending in a jagged tip.

I grab it, ignoring the splinters digging into my palm as I position it above the open chest of the woman, her beating heart mere inches from the end of the wood.

I glance over at the fight, my stomach clenching to see Asenath wrapped in those shadow tentacles, one set of claws burying themselves into Dimitri's side. The tentacles are hurting him, I can feel an echo of the pain through our bond, and the anger that's been simmering in my chest bursts out.

"Hey Dimitri," I say loudly, my fury giving me far more confidence than I actually have. "Go fuck yourself." Yeah, not original, but it gets his attention.

His eyes widen comically and he drops Asenath, rushing forward to stop me.

But my hands are already moving, driving the wood downward. The tip pierces the woman's heart, and I'm momentarily surprised at how tough it is to get the impromptu stake into the muscle. I figure it would be no different than stabbing a steak, but it is. I push down with all my strength, twisting the piece of wood to ensure as much damage as possible.

"What have you done?" Dimitri screams, just as the power being stored within the woman explodes outward.

I skid backward, hitting the wall as a wind whips through the church.

Asenath jumps away from Dimitri, blood spraying outward as he rips his claws from the mage's stomach. Dimitri doesn't notice, his neon green eyes widening as the gale circles him, a roar growing louder.

Asenath reaches my side, one hand grasping my arm as he tugs me back. "Run. We have to run," he yells into my ear.

I can't tear my gaze away from Dimitri. Those glowing eyes meet mine, narrowing in fury, but an ear-splitting ripping noise grabs his attention.

A black tear opens behind him, the wind howling louder as if it's getting sucked into that void. Inhuman screams echo from the other side of the tear, guttural cries that sound hungry and very, very angry.

Dimitri takes a step towards us, but Asenath wraps one arm around my waist and jerks me backward. In a panic, I grab hold of Ben's arm, pulling him with me as Asenath drags us off the platform and through the door we originally entered.

Dimitri screams, the cacophony coming from the tear drowning out his words. I'm sort of thankful for that. I have no interest in hearing what he has to say.

The noise gets louder, making it impossible to hear what Asenath is saying. All I do is keep my death grip on Ben as we stumble farther down the hallway.

Then there's silence.

I didn't realize how much of a physical burden that oily magic had been until the sudden absence of it has me falling to my knees. And Dimitri was tapped into that power. No wonder he was crazy.

Ben pulls away from me and I let him, my body shaking as the adrenaline dissipates. Fuck, I feel like I'm going to crash.

"Something's wrong," Asenath breaths out, and I lift my head in confusion. He's staring at Ben, crimson eyes narrowing as he tilts his head. There's a tug on the binding, power reaching out toward the nearly naked man before us, but there's no answering thrum of magic.

Ben blinks at us, eyes wide with a mix of terror and confusion. "Where am I?"

"Ben?" I reach out to my best friend, my lover, but he steps away from me, shaking his head. There's a void in my chest where Ben's connection once was, a yawning silence that shouldn't be there. Ben is standing right here. Why can't I feel him?

Ben shakes his head again, stumbling away from me, panic evident in his brown eyes. Does he have amnesia? Is he panicking and shutting down?

Asenath lets out a distressed sound. "That's not Ben," he says brokenly.

Oh God, if the person staring at me out of Ben's eyes isn't Ben, then where is he?

Not Ben turns and bolts, running back into the nave of the church and I take off after him. I only get a few steps into the nave when Asenath's strong arms wrap around me and pull me to a stop. I fight against him, reaching out to Ben's retreating form as he skirts past the woman's corpse. Dodging the black miasma of magic lashing out of the now closing tear, he disappears through a doorway.

I don't even realize I'm screaming until the tear closes and we are left in the echoing silence of the church. My cheeks are wet with tears and I don't even know when I started crying.

"We'll get him back, Issac. I give you my word that we will get Ben back," Asenath whispers, holding me to his chest as I scream for Ben.

"What do you mean? How was that not Ben?"

"You felt the emptiness. The body is Ben's but what resides inside is not. I don't know how, but we will figure out what has happened to our Ben. He is not dead. Of that I am sure, but we will find him."

I collapse to the floor, my legs no longer able to carry my weight as I throw my power out into that void again and again, but I feel nothing in return.

Ben is gone. And with him, so is part of my heart.